dosankodebbie's etegami notebook

snow city sapporo

2012-01-31T14:43:00.000-08:00

For this week's Illustration Friday challenge (topic: "forward") I'm posting my latest illustrated map to show you how my hometown tries to maintain a forward-looking mindset about the huge amount of snow that we have to deal with for six months of every year. You can see a bigger version of the map, along with my other illustrated maps, here, on the They Draw and Travel website.

layers of snow (misuzu kaneko series #4)

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

With an average yearly snowfall of 630 cm (248 inches), Sapporo has the dubious honor of being the "snowiest major city" in the world. We try to think of snow as a resource rather than a liability, but sometimes it's hard to maintain that perspective. In 1972 Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics, the first ever held in Asia, and of course, we are famous for the Sapporo Snow Festival, which draws 2 million tourists from around the world, more than doubling the city's population of 1.9 million. Speaking of which, this year's Snow Festival starts on February 4th and goes until the 12th. Give me a shout if you plan to be here for it. I will be watching it on the TV screen in the warmth of my living room. : )

Note: The translation of the Misuzu Kaneko poem accompanying the etegami collage is my own work.

illustration friday (twirl 2)

2012-01-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here's another "twirl" for you. Although I'd forgotten where I found the quote, Alison tells me it comes from the poem Samara by Sonny Rainshine. Thank you Alison!!

illustration friday (twirl)

2012-01-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

The Japanese characters are read kaza-hana or kaza-bana (literally: "wind flowers"), and are a poetic reference to snowflakes that dance in the wind on a sunny day. The inspiration for the snowflakes in this etegami were actually crocheted doilies. ;p

more get-well cards

2012-01-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

The first one sort of overlaps into Valentine territory, and has special meaning for me.

illustration friday (prepare)

2012-01-14T16:49:00.001-08:00

The words are my own, though I imagine many people have expressed similar sentiments.

the japan postal service

2012-01-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

A recent article on the thought-provoking blog Cheerio Road takes on what my cousin Karen calls the demise of the US Postal Service. Woven cleverly into the article is an introduction to the art of etegami, but you must (please) read it for yourself to see what it signifies. You may even want to try your luck with the etegami coasters giveaway. : )

Do you remember what I wrote in my January 1 post about Japanese New Year postcards? I wrote: The cards ... arrive on New Years morning in a bundle fastened with a rubber band. At the top of the bundle is a greeting from the Japan Postal Service with their best wishes for the new year. I though you might like to see this year's JPS greeting card (above), with the photo of the mailman on his red JPS motorbike, riding along a path through the rice paddies in a picturesque rural area. The writing translates as follows:

Happy New Year from the JPS group. We wish to convey our most sincere appreciation for your patronage. Ours is a country where people send their hearts to one another at the start of each new year. Once again we deliver to you-- distilled in the form of New Year postcards-- the love and thoughts of the people most dear to you. Connecting people to people, community to community. We at JPS promise to re-examine what we are fundamentally here to do, so that we can better provide you with reliable services that are worthy of your trust. January 1, 2012

The sentiments expressed here are part of why I don't think JPS is going to fade away any time soon, in spite of the internet revolution. A few years ago, I wrote a post about the JPS and its relationship to the art of etegami. Dismiss it as clever marketing if you like, but the JPS really does make itself indispensable to community life.

illustration friday (grounded)

2012-01-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

March 11, 2011. Japan. The day ships were grounded on the tops of tall buildings.

get-well cards

2012-01-05T17:11:00.001-08:00

Sunflowers.

Old-fashioned Thermometer.

Virus (this one happens to be a mononucleosis virus).

Making an original, handmade get-well card is easier than going out and buying one. Really. And so much more fun to receive, don't you think?

back to the basics (again)

2012-01-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

"O snail. Climb Mt. Fuji. But slowly, slowly." (Kobayashi Issa, 1763 - 1827)

Last month, I came across an old sales catalog for etegami supplies that I had saved for the sake of the back cover. It was printed with a list labeled "The Seven Marks of Etegami," which I have translated below.

1. Awkwardness in etegami is fine-- even desirable.

2. Observe your subject closely and draw boldly.

3. Don't make an under-drawing. Your etegami should be a spontaneous, one-shot deal.

4. Use an ink brush and sumi ink.

5. When making your lines, move the ink brush across the paper very, very slowly.

6. Put your heart into the selection and writing of the accompanying words.

7. When the etegami is done, address it, stamp it, and stick it in the mailbox.

Unlike a lot of traditional Japanese Art, etegami has very few hard and fast rules. But it is founded on some basic principles. These principles have been expressed as guidelines by different etegami masters in different ways, and I've posted them on this blog from time to time. Compare the list above with the one in this post.

If you are familiar with my work, or that of other etegami artists, you've probably seen plenty of etegami that seem to bend or ignore these guidelines. In fact, I frequently experiment with different writing utensils or inks, and I often make etegami collages for a change in routine. When I ask for submissions to an etegami call, the only thing I am inflexible about is that the submissions must be a combination of image and words, and that they be in an easy-to-mail form. After all, the name of this art form is E (picture/image) + Tegami (letter/missive).

But I do think it is important to know what the early leaders and formers of etegami had in mind, and what they thought made etegami different from other forms of popular art. If you have been producing etegami without understanding this, you may want to take the time to digest the guidelines. See if it makes a difference in the way you paint, and in how you express yourself in this medium.

the dilemma

2012-01-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

Seahorses. "Moving Forward"

Sprouting Water Chestnuts. "Hope Sprouts"

Flying Daruma Kite with Issa haiku.

Dragon fruit

Every year I write about nengajou (Japanese New Year postcards) traditions on this blog, but I never thought to mention that tradition prohibits a certain group of people from participating in this annual exchange. These are the people who are in ritual mourning due to the loss of a family member during the year preceding the New Year's Day in question. Instead, about a month before New Year's Day, they send totally unadorned cards to their friends and business associates explaining why they will not be sending out nengajou, and which of their family has passed away.

Because of the tremendous devastation and loss of life resulting from the March 11 disasters, the whole nation was (and continues to be) in mourning. At the end of 2011, there was a lot of discussion, in private and in the media, about whether nengajou should be sent out at all, even if one hadn't actually lost a family member. It was generally agreed that it would be okay for nengajou to be exchanged among those who had not lost a family member. However, in deference to those who had suffered loss, people exchanging cards should avoid certain phrases that were overly joyful or congratulatory.

I listened to these discussions with only half my attention, because the boundary between acceptable and non-acceptable phrases seemed a bit too subtle for me to take seriously. And besides, the same arguments had gone on all year regarding whether it was proper to enjoy cherry blossom-viewing or summer festivals with fireworks or any number of fun things, while so many people in our country were suffering such enormous pain and sorrow. Opinions were always sharply divided, even among those who were the most severely affected.

Nevertheless, when the time came to chose the words to go on my etegami nengajou, I did ponder on this matter, and rather than using words like Happy, Joyful, or Celebrate, I chose words like Hope and Moving Forward. Not because I am overly concerned with propriety, but because if my choice of words can cause either pain or comfort, I would rather they cause comfort.　

The etegami I've posted above are some of the ones I painted as this year's nengajou. I blogged about the dragon etegami a few months ago. If you missed it and would like to see it, click here.

nengajou highlights

2012-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

The highlight of every New Years Day is the nengajou (Japanese new year greeting postcards) that arrive sometime during the morning. People sending traditional nengajou must slip the cards through the specially-labeled nengajou slot in the mailbox before a pre-determined deadline (usually around December 24) in order to be guaranteed delivery on January 1. The cards that make the deadline arrive on New Years morning in a bundle fastened with a rubber band. At the top of the bundle is a greeting from the Japan Postal Service with their best wishes for the new year. The cards that don't make the deadline get delivered with the regular mail, after the holiday is over, and after the postal service is back to normal operation.

I just love the excitement of waiting for nengajo delivery on New Years morning! The images posted here are my favorites (so far) among the artsy cards from this year's haul. Some are hand-painted originals, others are prints made from original artwork. I expect more will trickle in after the holiday is over. Eventually, I will store them in a special nengajou card album. I refer to these albums when it's time to make next year's nengajou address list. I also refer to the album in twelve years' time when the oriental zodiac comes full circle, to get inspiration for my own etegami nengajou designs.

This year's zodiac animal is the dragon, and most of the cards I received, even the majority that were not handmade, depicted a dragon of some sort. Sea horses count as dragons, as they are called "dragon children" in Japanese. But the zodiac animal is by no means the only felicitous image for a New Year card. Mt.Fuji, a brilliant sunrise, red-crowned cranes, flying kites, the otafuku mask (as in 2nd image from the bottom) and many more images are used for nengajou.

Dearest friends and followers, May you have a blessed and joyful 2012!

illustration friday (messenger)

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite wind instrument is the Japanese shakuhachi, but the instrument that holds the most youthful memories for me is the harmonica. The harmonica, along with the castanet, used to be a part of every Japanese schoolchild's tool kit-- and I assume it still is. But mostly, the harmonica takes me back to my high school years, when I was one of a group of TCK* teenagers who would volunteer to work for a part of each summer at a handful of dairy farms struggling to make ends meet in impoverished western Hokkaido.

After a day of backbreaking labor, we would sometimes unwind in the evening by forming an impromptu jug band, making vaguely musical noises out of anything that was close at hand. Someone would always bring out a harmonica and manage to pull all those noises together into something to jiggle and clap and hum along with. To this day, it is one of my fondest memories.

*TCK= third culture kid (kids who grow up outside of their parents' home culture, often in countries of which they are not citizens)

joy to the world

2011-12-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

May your holidays be merry. May you see the star and rejoice.

illustration friday (sink)

2011-12-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

Some recent summer-themed etegami from Carole Marshall "down-under" in Australia, inspired me to turn one of my earlier cicada etegami into a collage for this week's Illustration Friday post. The accompanying words are my translation of a haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694).

illustration friday (separated)

2011-12-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

butterbur shoots

2011-12-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

We call these Fukinoto, and they are one of the first things to poke through the snow in the early spring. They are delicious when fried in airy tempura batter, or chopped fine and blended with miso paste. Like many edible wild plants, fukinoto have a slight bitterness that I enjoy. It's hard to associate the fukinoto with the tall-stemmed, huge-leafed butterbur leaves that replace the small flowery shoots later in the season.

From Wikipedia: The plants commonly referred to as Butterbur are found in the daisy family Asteraceae in the genus Petasites. They are mostly quite robust plants with thick, creeping underground rhizomes and large Rhubarb-like leaves during the growing season. Another common name for many species of this genus is Sweet Coltsfoot.

I painted this as an illustration for a story written by a friend, which explains why I didn't accompany the image with words as is usual for etegami. I hope to tell you more about this project later. : )

tomo anthology to assist teens

2011-12-12T01:28:00.000-08:00

TOMO, an anthology of short stories with particular relevance to teens, will be released this coming March from Stone Bridge Press. Its aim is to bring Japanese stories to readers worldwide, and in doing so, to help support young people affected or displaced by the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. Proceeds from the sales of this book will go directly toward long-term relief efforts for teens in northeast Japan, the area most affected by the disasters.

My translation of the Ainu folktale, "Where the Silver Droplets Fall," accompanied by two simple etegami-style drawings, is included in this book. As one of the contributors to the anthology, I was interviewed on the TOMO blog. In the interview, I share a bit of my personal background and what led to my becoming a translator of Ainu folklore. But more importantly, it gives a glimpse into the life of Chiri Yukie, one Ainu teenager who struggled to value herself and her cultural heritage, at a time when both were despised by mainstream society. By the time she died of heart failure at the tender age of nineteen, she had become a forerunner of a movement to save her people's oral tradition from oblivion. C lick here to read the interview.

museum exhibits my earthquake etegami

2011-12-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

The "Humanizing the Quake" series, which I painted to work out my anguish after the disasters that assailed Japan on March 11.... (gosh, I still can't type those words without bursting into tears...), is currently on display at the Bolduc House Museum in Ste.Genevieve, Missouri (USA). The exhibit will continue till early February. It's part of an extensive, historical, earthquake-related exhibit. (click image to enlarge) Printed postcards of my etegami are for sale at the Museum Shop. Proceeds from the sale of these postcards will be used to help Japanese families who were forced to relocate as a result of the tsunami.

One of the images in this series was used for the "We're All Connected" T-shirt, the proceeds of which will also be going to support families affected by the 3.11 disasters. The t-shirt comes in many choices of size, style, and color. It's a beautiful, high-quality t-shirt and would make a lovely Christmas gift. : )

winners of the christmas giveaway

2011-12-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

My heartfelt appreciation goes to those who asked to be considered for the Christmas Giveaway. I was so very pleased by the response I got, it kills me that I have only two sets of etegami postcards to give away. Nevertheless, I wrote down each name on a strip of washi card stock, put them all in my favorite blue denim cap, and randomly drew out two names.

The winners are: Crafty Green Poet and Uniflame. Congratulations! I've asked for and received their addresses, so the postcard sets will soon be on their way. I hope to do another giveaway next spring, around Easter-time, and I hope you will all try again. Your enthusiasm for etegami means a great deal to me, and I thank you so much for it. oxox

illustration friday (brigade)

2011-12-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

"The Honey Brigade."

The accompanying quote is the first line of Against Idleness and Mischief, a poem by Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748), the English theologian and hymnwriter. The poem was famously parodied by Lewis Carroll in his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in the poem How Doth the Little Crocodile, which is now better known than the original.

The washi I used for this piece is less soft and less absorbent than the cards I usually use, so I had some trouble getting the effect I wanted. But not being able to control the outcome is an important part of Etegami, so I shouldn't, and I won't, grumble about it. ; )

If you haven't done so already, check out my Christmas Giveaway. Deadline to enter is December 8, 2011.

christmas giveaway

2011-12-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Dearest friends and followers: I will be giving away two sets of printed etegami postcards. Each set consists of three etegami images from my winter holiday collection: Poinsettia, Daruma Santa Elves, and Hibernating Ladybugs. The images are printed on stiff cards with a glossy finish, and can be stamped and sent through the post, or displayed artfully in frames. If you'd like to take advantage of the giveaway, indicate this clearly in a comment below. I will randomly pick two names on December 8 (Japan time), and airmail the postcard sets to the lucky winners on December 9, in time to reach you by Christmas.

etegami t-shirt for earthquake relief

2011-12-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that I have been accepting requests for custom-designed etegami t-shirts, but I want to make a special appeal for this particular tee. The image on the tee shows carp windsocks (koinobori) fluttering in the wind. You may remember it from my Earthquake series of Etegami. The Japanese writing can be translated "We're in this Together" or "We're all Connected."

Koinobori are associated with the Children's Day holiday in May. Net profit from sales of this t-shirt will go to support the relocation of families who suffered in the 3.11 disaster, particularly families with small children. The tee comes in many sizes, styles, and price-ranges. It can be customized and purchased from this site and will ship directly to you. Consider buying one for yourself or a loved one for Christmas.

more illustrated recipes

2011-12-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of three illustrated recipes I've submitted to the "Eat Pretty for the Holidays" contest. Salmon (especially salmon sashimi) is my favorite fish, tied for first place in my heart with Pacific Saury. You may have noticed that those fish often feature in my etegami. The deadline for submissions to the aforementioned contest is December 4, if you care to give it a try.

I'm also thrilled that my illustrated recipe for Umeboshi Cheesecake was featured in the December issue of an American cooking magazine called "Where Women Cook." The recipe spreads over two pages and includes an interview of me. (happy dance)

Click here to see my Illustrated Recipe Calendar for 2012.

"breakfast" etegami gallery

2011-12-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

by Samantha (Australia). Awesome perspective! Someday I'll have to try vegemite, though I hear it's an acquired taste. I love the woody texture of the floor. Check out Samantha's website: A Drawing a Day

2 pieces by Mireille Ono (Japan, by way of France). One shows a western-style breakfast, the other Japanese-style. The words on the second etegami say "Builds the heart. Builds the body. Good medicine."

by Carole Marshall (Australia). My breakfast comes with a lot of pills too, Carole. What a clever idea to include them in your breakfast etegami! Check out Carole's website: Origa-me Origa-me.

by Corrine Girard (France). This is exactly what I imagine a French breakfast to look like! See Corrine's cute Rabbit Breakfast on my Mailart Gallery blog.

2 pieces by Fumiko Koga (Japan). The first has a doodle of Fumiko's beloved pet dog in the bottom right corner, sniffing enviously, and it says "It's only hot miso soup, rice, seaweed, and tofu. But it's delicious because Mother made it." The second says "I woke up too late to make breakfast. I'm sorry." Search for more of Fumiko's work on my MailArt Gallery blog!

Two pieces by Katerina Nikoltsou (Greece). She paints on soft woven paper (almost like cloth) that comes as close to washi as she has been able to find in Greece. Katerina has sent me lots of great mailart over the years. Search for more of her work on my Mailart Gallery blog!

by Lisa Erickson (USA). What a charming mug! Lisa also sent me an iced tea etegami which you can see here. Check out her website: A Paper Snowflake

by Lisa Nylander (Japan). The writing is a bit faded, but it says "Today I'm a bread person. Tomorrow who knows?" Lisa, I've never had bananas on French bread. It really looks good. I'm going to have to try it!

by Mayumi Miyagawa (Japan). "One each day is the basis of good health." See lots more of Mayumi's etegami on my Mailart Gallery.

by Moses (Singapore). I love the wordplay on this one! Check out his website: Pause-ability

You can review my own previously-posted breakfast etegami by clicking here and here.

If you submitted to this challenge and don't see your work posted above, it may be because it didn't fit the size or content guidelines posted here. In that case, your work has been posted in the mailart gallery along with other fabulous mailart.

If you still can't find your work, don't hesitate to contact me and we'll try to figure out what happened to it. If you want me to change or add (name, website, etc) to the information posted beneath your work, be sure to let me know!

Thank you all for submitting your delightful work. I've sent etegami replies to those who sent me their work by traditional post, for whom I have addresses. If you sent me your work by email, and would like an etegami from me, please message me with your postal address. oxox

illustration friday (round #2)

2011-11-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

In eastern Hokkaido there is a lake called Lake Akan, where the marimo grow. A marimo is a rare growth form of the filamentous green algae (Chlorophyta), where the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance.

The Ainu, northern Japan's indigenous people, called them lake goblins or lake rollers. It turns out that the only other regions where colonies of marimo are known to form are Iceland, Scotland, and Estonia, but the ones in Lake Akan are known to grow particularly large-- up to 30 cm across.

When I was young, we used to think of marimo as a sort of pet, and kept them in jars filled with water. I was a lazy guardian, and my marimo invariably died, but, if memory serves, one of my sisters kept one alive for a long time, growing it to an impressive size. Nowadays they are a protected species, and the little ones you find in souvenir shops are hand rolled from free-floating filaments.

more colorful produce

2011-11-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

Hokkaido has entered the dormant season where the once-colorful leaves have crumbled to brown dust and snow will soon cover all traces of ground vegetation and even the mis-matched colors of our house roofs and automobiles.

This is when I really start appreciating the colors of our fruits and vegetables. Sure, we have beautiful produce during our brief summers, but I guess I don't appreciate their colors as much as they deserve, because, outside, the leaves on the trees are all shades of green, flowers bloom like pieces of the rainbow, and butterflies flit like floating flower petals.

In the setting of a monochromatic winter, purple-skinned sweet potatoes and persimmons the color of the sun really brighten my world. I picked out a couple samples from my illustrated recipes as evidence.

illustration friday (round)

2011-11-25T13:11:00.001-08:00

There are two gift-giving seasons in Japan. One is in the summer and one is in the winter. Winter gifts often involve agricultural produce for which the sender's home prefecture is known. Each winter I receive a case of potatoes from an old friend in south-western Hokkaido, a case of tangerines from an even older friend in Nagoya, and a case of persimmons from the oldest friend of all in Shikoku. I reciprocate by sending each of them a case of lily roots, a rather high-class vegetable that is often used in New Year dishes. 90% of the domestic product is produced in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. I also try to send each of these friends an Etegami thank-you card with a painted image of the gift I received from them.

I never tire of the gifts, even though my friends have been sending me the same thing every year for over twenty years. I base my winter shopping and meal plans on the assumption that I will have lots of potatoes, tangerines and persimmons. And I suspect my friends make similar plans each year around the lily roots that I send them.

The problem is, I run out of new ways to depict this produce in my Etegami thank-you cards. I've painted whole persimmons, halved persimmons, persimmon wedges, persimmon pie, persimmons in the box, persimmons on the branch, persimmons in salads... One year when I was at loss for a new way to paint persimmons, I decided to slice them cross-wise, which is never done, because it makes them harder to eat or use in cooking. It did provide a new and interesting visual perspective though. So I accompanied the image with the words: "A Change in Perspective."

For those of you who have never seen a lily root, here is a smaller image from one of my illustrated recipes. Lily root is a lot of fun to cook with. You can see that it's (sort of) round too. : )

media goes wild over cookbook

2011-11-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

It seems so long ago (at the same time it seems like just yesterday) that I first began to submit illustrated recipes to the They Draw and Cook website. It was a fun and quirky challenge, and an enormous thrill to see my etegami posted alongside some of the most delightful artwork I've ever seen. I never dreamed that one of my works would make it into TDAC's first published collection of illustrated recipes.

It seems the artists who submitted to the cookbook aren't the only ones thrilled by its quality. The media have been raving about it left and right. And for good reason. Because of its great low introductory price, I had expected an economical paperback with grainy pages. My jaw dropped when I first held it in my hands.

It's a beautifully bound hardback with a spine that allows each recipe (they spread across two adjoining pages) to lie flat without your having to use a brick to hold the pages down like you have to with lots of other cookbooks. High quality paper is used for pages. The color printing is awesome. It is thick and heavy, and exudes presence. A coffee table book rather than something to flip through while you're mixing ingredients on a messy kitchen counter. A source of unending culinary inspiration and a delight to the senses. A window into the cuisine of exotic cultures and regions, as well as dishes that are comfortably familiar. Get yourself a copy. Give someone a copy for Christmas. You won't regret it.

illustration friday (vanity)

2011-11-21T15:26:00.001-08:00

etegami calendar 2012

2011-11-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

My very first attempt at putting together an etegami calendar is this Illustrated Recipes Calendar. (For Sale Here) I really wanted to make one based on my Earthquake series, but you know how important the explanatory text is for each one of those, and I haven't yet found a feasible way to combine both image and lengthy text in a calendar. If you have experience with this sort of thing, I'd appreciate advice. :)

illustration friday (silent #2)

2011-11-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here are two more from the Holiday Daruma Series, which I introduced in the Halloween post. In addition to the two etegami posted here, yesterday I finally finished the Christmas etegami I plan to send out this winter to my closest friends and family. It also features a daruma doll. I don't want to spoil the surprise for them, so that one remains secret for now. : )

last reminder- breakfast etegami call

2011-11-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

I'm getting some delightful submissions to the Breakfast-themed Etegami Call, and they will all be posted here on December 1. If you'd been meaning to send me something, and had forgotten, there are two more weeks before the deadline. Click here for submission guidelines. If you don't understand something, don't hesitate to ask.

I've posted an old etegami depicting my favorite Japanese-style breakfast. A bowl of hot rice topped with a very fresh raw egg. I drizzle a bit of soy sauce over the top and mix it all together. Served with a side of Japanese-style vegetable pickles. Yum yum.

illustration friday (silent)

2011-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a new etegami for this week's IF prompt, but meanwhile, remember this etegami that I made for 2011 The Year of the Rabbit? Did 2011 pass as quickly for you as it did for me? Was it as tumultuous for those of you outside Japan as it was those of us in Japan? Whew! What a year.

illustration friday (stripes)

2011-11-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

One of the many things I love about Autumn is the shapes of the clouds in the sky. The other day I looked up at a sky that was striped from edge to edge.

This is a collage made from three different kinds of washi paper. The accompanying haiku by the itinerant poet Matsuo Basho, reminds me that being able to see the moon (or whatever you've set your gaze upon) --clearly and all the time-- isn’t necessarily the only way to enjoy it— or life.

toasting with apples

2011-11-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Although my siblings and I were all born and raised in Japan, the vast ocean that now separates us is not easily or frequently crossed. The older I get, the dearer they are to me, and I am eternally grateful for the internet, which makes sharing my life with them so much easier than it was for my parents who were similarly separated from their loved ones when they made the choice to leave their home country in their early 20s.

Recently, one of my sisters bought her first house in the apple-y state of Washington (USA), within view of Mt.Adams. In the email that announced this huge decision, she wrote: My real estate agent who led me through the whole process brought two freshly picked apples to "toast" the closing. I was so charmed by the image these words evoked, that I decided to illustrate it as an etegami and send it to her for a housewarming gift. It is my way of sharing this happy/scary step in her life.

illustration friday (scary #2)

2011-10-30T17:12:00.001-07:00

That explains a lot. :)

illustration friday (scary)

2011-10-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Scary (and likewise: spooky, horror, creepy, occult, etc) is a theme that I generally avoid in art, books, music, and movies. I do have a seed of an idea that I think might be fun to express as an etegami. However, it will take me a bit longer to finish it. In the meantime, here's an etegami collage I made last year to make your neck hairs stand on end.

Japan has many spooky stories of people (usually young women) who commit suicide by throwing themselves into wells. Their restless, unhappy spirits often return as ghosts to terrorize the living. I've seen many old wells like this one-- moss growing in the cracks between the stones, and the openings covered with half-rotted wood planks or bamboo poles tied together with decaying ropes.

illustration friday (fuel)

2011-10-25T20:45:00.001-07:00

As soon as I heard what this week's IF topic was, I knew what I wanted to draw. But it took me forever to think of words to accompany the image. I originally planned to write "cow chips, a sustainable fuel," but it sounded soberly PC when I really meant to be tongue-in-cheek. I finally gave up trying to be clever, and prosaically labeled it "cow chips." Booooooring.

miniature art

2011-10-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Until I met Vika, I had never considered that buttons could be works of art. Vika is an artist/craftsperson who makes buttons, pendants, and brooches from clays and metals. My ignorance probably has a lot to do with the fact that I never learned to sew or appreciate the tools and materials associated with clothes-making or fashion.

I was absolutely dumbfounded when Vika sent me some buttons she said had been inspired by my etegami (not pictured). Recently, she startled me even further with her earnest questions about the aesthetics and processes of Etegami. Her questions --and my answers-- resulted in an intriguing post on Beads of Clay, a blog for ceramic bead artists. It opened my eyes to the connections that she sees between Etegami and other Art in miniature. What do you think about the issues Vika raises?

reminder: etegami call "breakfast"

2011-10-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Submissions to the Breakfast Etegami Call are starting to come in, but in case you missed my invitation, please check for details on this post. The deadline is November 30, so you have plenty of time. Submissions will be posted here on this blog on December 1.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of breakfast etegami that I painted this week. A bowl of cold cereal with milk (left) is a typical hot-weather breakfast for me. Or, if I have any over-ripe fruit sitting around, I might blend myself a yogurt shake (top).

Cold-weather breakfasts are an entirely different matter. I get ravenous in cold weather. I'll see what cold-weather breakfast etegami I can come up with in the next few weeks and post them as further reminders that I look forward eagerly to seeing your breakfast etegami!

illustration friday (scattered)

2011-10-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

Rose Pogonias by Robert Frost

A saturated meadow,
Sun-shaped and jewel-small,
A circle scarcely wider
Than the trees around were tall;
Where winds were quite excluded,
And the air was stifling sweet
With the breath of many flowers, --
A temple of the heat.

There we bowed us in the burning,
As the sun's right worship is,
To pick where none could miss them
A thousand orchises;
For though the grass was scattered,
yet every second spear
Seemed tipped with wings of color,
That tinged the atmosphere.

We raised a simple prayer
Before we left the spot,
That in the general mowing
That place might be forgot;
Or if not all so favored,
Obtain such grace of hours,
that none should mow the grass there
While so confused with flowers.

illustration friday (contraption #2)

2011-10-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

At our wedding, 34+ years ago, a friend gave us a pair of Swiss army knives. My husband lost his fairly recently, while he was hiking in the mountains. But I still have mine. It's one of the few-- maybe only-- wedding gifts that we still possess today. I'm very fond of it, but the only thing I ever use it for is to break down cardboard boxes to put out for recycling. Poor, under-used army knife...

illustration friday (contraption)

2011-10-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

This week's IF prompt is a troublesome one for me, as I rarely draw anything man-made. But, for that very reason, it's the kind of challenge I particularly appreciate, because it forces me out of my comfort zone. While I work on a new idea for this topic, here's an etegami I made some time ago, using liquid coffee instead of sumi ink and gansai paints.

hand-painted mini-fans

2011-10-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

Though Etegami is-- in principle-- a form of mail art, the most common form being a postcard, there are other forms an Etegami can take without compromising the mailart factor. One of these forms is a miniature version of the hand-held flat fans (uchiwa) that I introduced in this post. The mini-fans are small enough, and flat enough, to slip into an envelope and send through the post. They're especially cool (pun intended) as shochuu-mimai greeting cards in mid-summer. Summer is a long way off for most of us, but you might want to try this as a Christmas gift idea this winter. There are more samples in my Etsy shop ♥

etegami call "breakfast"

2011-10-02T17:30:00.001-07:00

Some of you may remember that I used to post fairly regularly about Etegami Magazine, a monthly publication from the Japan Etegami Association. Membership is a bit pricey, and I had to let my subscription expire at the end of the first year. Recently, I decided to treat myself to another year of the magazine, and was thrilled when the first issue arrived yesterday. One feature that immediately caught my eye was a collection of etegami on the theme of "breakfast."

Some of the breakfasts were planned around a bowl of rice (top), others were planned around bread (left). My Japanese acquaintances often ask me if I'm a "bread breakfast person" or a "rice breakfast person," and are a bit startled when I explain that my breakfasts don't fit their tidy categories.

I'm curious what you, my dear readers, ate for breakfast this morning. And as it's been such a long while since I put out a call for etegami, I thought this might be a good topic to try out. What do you think? It should be fun!

These are the rules:

1. Submit an etegami on the subject of breakfast. You may send it by post or by email attachment (jpg file). My postal address is at the top of my mailart gallery blog, and my email address is on my profile.

2. Submissions must be postcard size: approximately 10 cm x 15 cm (roughly 4 x 6 inches).

3. Any medium is allowed. It doesn't have to be watercolor on washi.

4. To qualify as etegami, it must have words on it.

5. Submissions must reach me by November 30, 2011 (Japan time) at the latest, in order to be posted on my blog on December 1.

Submitted etegami will not be returned, and there will be no judging or awards. It is not a contest. I will, however, try reply to your submission with an etegami of my own, as I always do when anyone sends me etegami.

Ask me questions if you are confused about any aspect of this etegami call. I'm looking forward to lots of submissions! Have fun!
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illustration friday (hibernate #2)

2011-10-02T00:23:00.000-07:00

I’ve always had a fascination for ladybugs, and use one as my avatar. Ladybugs hibernate in groups, and I often think that these inert ladybugs would make such great Christmas tree ornaments or decorations for a Christmas Wreath. Or, how about hanging a bunch from the ceiling or door frame instead of mistletoe? It’s kind of fun to imagine, don’t you think?

illustration friday (hibernate)

2011-09-30T20:10:00.001-07:00

Above: Hibernating squirrel. (Isn't he a cutie?) The quote is from the last stanza of Winter Sleep, a poem by Elinor Wylie (1885 -1928). To the left: Hibernating bats in a cave.

dragons

2011-09-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

My mind is currently full of dragons; The reason being that I start thinking of designs for my etegami nengajou (Japanese New Year cards) around this time of year, and 2012 happens to be The Year of the Dragon.

Here are a couple that I just finished. The first was inspired by The Tale of Custard the Dragon, a sweet and funny poem by Ogden Nash, which is too long to post here. The second was inspired by The Dragon of Grindly Grun, a funny poem by Shel Silverstein, which (in a strange way) appeals to my passion for cooking. It's short enough to quote in full, so here it is:

The Dragon of Grindly Grun

I'm the Dragon of Grindly Grun,
I breathe fire as hot as the sun.
When a knight comes to fight
I just toast him on sight,
Like a hot crispy cinnamon bun.

When I see a fair damsel go by,
I just sigh a fiery sigh,
And she'd baked like a 'tater-
I think of her later
With a romantic tear in my eye.

I'm the Dragon of Grindly Grun,
But my lunches aren't very much fun,
For I like my damsels medium rare,
and they always come out well done.

by Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

more cats

2011-09-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

Lately I've noticed that I am surrounded by people who are passionate about cats. I had to muffle my own childhood affection for cats for the sake of my husband and kids, all of whom have serious asthma and cat allergies.

But under the influence of the aforementioned cat fanatics, my old affections are stirring again. Well, I don't think etegami ever gave anyone an asthma attack, so these days I'm expressing that affection more and more in cat paintings. The last two are the latest additions to my Eliot's Cats series which gets its inspiration from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S.Eliot, the basis for the musical CATS.

halloween daruma

2011-09-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the exact location, but there used to be an outdoor daruma doll market, right next to a temple honoring the Bodhidarma, founder of Zen Buddhism. Maybe it's still there. I often passed by it when I rode my bicycle on many a Saturday, during my high school years at a certain international school in Tokyo. My solitary Saturday bike rides were a precious escape from the dormitory, from high school social life, and from group-life and group-think in general.

I would pack myself a lunch and swing my leg over the saddle, give the handle bars an encouraging pat, and off we galloped (my bike and I) into the urban wilderness. I loved to get utterly lost in the maze-like sprawl of greater Tokyo, and then find my way home again before it got dark. Only, no matter how lost I thought I was, I always ended up in the vicinity of this daruma market. It became my habit to stop off there to eat my lunch and take pleasure in the piles of bright, orangey-red paper-mache dolls.

Anyway, that's part of the reason I have a soft spot for daruma dolls. I really like the daruma etegami I made for my EarthQuake Series, so I decided to do another series featuring daruma. I think I'll call this one my Holiday Daruma Series. Probably most of them will be tongue-in-cheek. We'll see.
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illustration friday (mesmerizing)

2011-09-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

I like to cut vegetables and fruits crosswise to see the fascinating shapes and patterns hidden inside. Cabbage and other densely packed leafy veggies reveal mesmerizing mazes. I often imagine myself as a tiny creature lost inside such mazes.
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illustration friday (boundaries)

2011-09-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

Mending Wall has always been one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, not only for the debate it provokes within me about walls and boundaries, but also for the humor in it.

Whenever I read the part about apple trees and pine cones, I picture a pine cone version of a horror movie in which apples go after the pine cones with a crazy hunger in their eyes and sharp, flashing teeth.

For this week's Illustration Friday, I only had time to throw together a collage using bits and pieces of etegami I've painted in the past. Mending Wall has so many other delicious lines that I'd like to use in etegami some day. Here are some more that I'm just itching to quote:

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.

more illustrated recipes for kids (#3)

2011-09-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

This is my third and last submission to TDAC's Cooking 4 Kids contest. The color is more somber than my other illustrated recipes, but the fact is, I feel very passionate about lotus root. The flavor, texture, and versatility of this vegetable is enough to make it a star in my cookbook, but it's the shape that really enchants me. The cool shape adds fun and excitement to any dish you use it in. And-- assuming you have a choice-- fun food beats boring food every time.

sketchbook project 2012 (fourth tale)

2011-09-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

My last Ainu folk tale The Swamp Mussel's Song, the front & back covers, and misc. pages. It's all done and ready to mail. You can click through the whole thing on my Art House Co-op profile page.

illustration friday (mysterious)

2011-09-06T05:01:00.000-07:00

Clione limacina, also called "sea angel." This etegami is part of my North Seas series.

more illustrated recipes for kids (#2)

2011-09-04T05:32:00.001-07:00

It's been so long since my kids were little (and even longer since I was a kid), that it wasn't easy to remember what amuses a child's mind and tickles his taste buds, but I thiiiiink this recipe and illo get pretty close. This is my second submission to TDAC's Cooking 4 Kids contest. If you haven't seen my earlier submission, it's here.

illustrated recipes for kids

2011-09-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest illustrated recipe. I painted it for TDAC's Cooking 4 Kids contest. It's a simplified version of the Sushi Jewels on my cooking blog Itadakimasu!

the drama of autumn (north seas series)

2011-08-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Autumn is full of drama in my part of northern Japan. Take salmon, for example. The way they are drawn irresistibly to the rivers where they were hatched, so they, in turn, can spawn the next generation of their kind. Though sea fishermen haul shiploads of this delicious fish to coastal markets, once they have entered the river, salmon are, for the most part, off-limits to humans.

But the salmon's drama has just begun. They must survive the body-crushing, skin-flaying, fin-nicking obstacle course of boulders and rapids as they defy the river current and push further and further inland. They must escape the claws of brown bears which are busy fattening themselves for winter hibernation. The females must survive these dangers while protecting a belly-full of eggs. The males must compete with other males to fertilize these eggs at the end of this exhausting journey. And, after that-- inevitably-- death. Their lives are exchanged for a chance that their offspring will survive to perform the drama all over again.

illustration friday (disguise)

2011-08-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Japanese folktales are full of stories of how humans are tricked by shape-shifting creatures. Two of the creatures most strongly associated with disguise are the fox and the tanuki. Whereas the fox tends to be sly and somewhat cruel, the tanuki tends to be a buffoon. My submission to this week's Illustration Friday illustrates a famous folktale called Bunbuku Chagama involving a tanuki that disguises itself as a ceremonial tea kettle. There are many versions to the story, but this is the version I learned as a child:

One day a tanuki is chased around the monastery grounds by a Buddhist monk who has come to the end of his patience over the tanuki's mischief. In a last-ditch effort to escape, the tanuki changes itself into a ceremonial tea kettle. But when the unsuspecting monk fills the kettle with water and places it on the hot coals of a hibachi in preparation for tea, the tanuki suddenly starts reverting to its true form. For some reason, it gets stuck half-way between its true form and the kettle disguise. The tanuki does manage to escape the monk, however, and in the end, it achieves success as a circus performer.

The accompanying quote is from a popular English nursery rhyme. I find the imbalance between the cultural background of the image and that of the words to be amusing. ;p

ice and claws (north seas series)

2011-08-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

A polar bear walks gingerly across the ice. The accompanying words quote from the last stanza of the poem Arktos by Ari Berk:

Wind of knives and fury born of stars
May not deter a giant built of ice and claws
Unless the sleep of solstices be on him
He, Son of Sedna and the Northern Waste

illustration friday (influence)

2011-08-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite musical instruments in the whole wide world is the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). My earliest memory of this soulful instrument is connected to an LP record (remember those?) that my father used to play for me when I had trouble falling asleep at night. The record was a selection of music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, and performed on the koto and shakuhachi. By the time I grew up and had developed a full appreciation for it, the record had disappeared from my father's collection. I've never been able to find another one just like it.

Many years later, I was homeschooling my son and trying to decide what to do about music lessons. Like me, he was more interested in listening to music than playing it. I asked him if there was any instrument he had the least bit of interest in learning to play. After giving it some thought, he replied, "shakuhachi, because it sounds like the wind." So he and I both began to take lessons from a Zen priest who gave shakuhachi lessons in his spare time.

It was a fascinating experience that, for several reasons, lasted only one year. I hope to resume lessons one of these days. I dream of improving my skill enough to play Christian hymns on the shakuhachi, something that shocked my old teacher when I mentioned it to him, and may even be one of the reasons why our lessons didn't last. oops ;p

Today's etegami depicts a komuso, one of the wandering Zen Buddhist monks who used shakuhachi as a means of meditation. The accompanying words are a quote from a longer poem by Ikkyu, an eccentric 15th century Zen priest, poet, and shakuhachi player, and who-- to this day-- has a huge influence on popular Japanese culture.

peachy links

2011-08-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I'm stunned and honored by being featured or mentioned on some very cool blogs. Here are some links to just a few of the most recent ones. I hope that you will make some new discoveries (as I did) and decide to follow some of these sites.

Mama Lisa's World is a treasure chest of International Childrens Songs, Nursery Rhymes, Culture and Traditional Music.

Sketches and Jottings looks inside the sketchbooks, journals, diaries and notepads of artists, writers, travelers and other interesting people.

Hello Seven has a cool Friday Favorites section that links to selected posts from each week's Illustration Friday submissions. The list and accompanying links are great for discovering new artists.

My thanks to Vicki of Vicki Smith Art, who awarded me the Sunshine Award and to Linda Hensley who credited me for inspiring her awesome cockroach art.

I hope to post more peachy links in the future.

illustration friday (swell)

2011-08-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

You may recognize this etegami from my Japanese Proverbs series. The writing translates to "a bee [sting] on a crying face," which refers to a misfortune that occurs on top of a previous misfortune (like the English saying rubbing salt in a wound).

illustration friday (imperfect)

2011-08-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

In contrast with the typical Western view of imperfection as being something to overcome and eliminate, much of traditional Japanese art idealizes the concept of "imperfect." The term used to summarize this is Wabi-sabi, an aesthetic that sees beauty in the imperfect and incomplete. It has its roots in the Buddhist worldview that "nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." In the art world, the term is often translated into English as "flawed beauty."

I've written before about the Etegami motto which was popularized by artist Koike Kunio. It goes: Heta de ii. Heta ga ii, which translates roughly to "Clumsy is not a problem. In fact, Clumsy is desirable!" I think this is Etegami's way of expressing the wabi-sabi philosophy. The shaky lines, the blankness of the background, the spaces left unpainted even within the outline of the image-- these and other characteristics of traditional etegami go against the grain of an artist who seeks perfection and completeness. An etegami artist has to be willing to give up a certain amount of control and see imperfection as beautiful.

When I make etegami, I have to resist my natural impulse to control the process. One way I give up control is by holding the ink brush by the tip of its long shaft with just two fingers, and moving the brush ever so slowly across the paper to create the outline of the image. I've written about this in my post on "living lines." In the wabi-sabi view, the clumsy jerks and bumps and blotches that result from this method are beautiful.

When I add color to this clumsy outline, I lay the paint brush against the paper and let the weave of the paper control the spreading of the paint. This is why I use washi cards with a high "bleed" factor. If I'm not careful, the paint quickly spreads beyond the border of the image. So I hold back on the paint, allowing plenty of blank margin between it and the border of the image. These blank areas add to the feeling of wabi-sabi incompleteness.

I find that if I forget the wabi-sabi attitude (which happens a lot), I end up with artwork that may be attractive enough on the surface, but lacking in something at a deeper level. It looks too controlled. It becomes difficult to distinguish from other kinds of art. To my eyes, it is no longer etegami.

sketchbook project 2012 (third tale)

2011-08-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

The Ainu word that usually gets translated as "god" is kamuy, and it basically applies to all things other than humans (ainu). This includes both living and non-living things. In the traditional Ainu worldview, kamuy spirits normally live in kamuy moshir (the land where the kamuy dwell), living just as humans do in ainu moshir (the land where the humans dwell). But once in a while, the kamuy borrow the forms of animals, plants, tools, and so forth, to visit the human world. And when they are freed from those forms (usually when their form dies or is used up in service to the humans) their spirits return to the land where the kamuy dwell, until such time as they desire to visit the human world again.

If the kamuy are not treated with honor during their visit to the human world, they are less likely to come for another visit. The forms which kamuy leave behind when they return to their own world are the food and other necessities that humans require for life. A steady supply of these necessities depends on humans showing proper respect and thankfulness (through various rituals) to ensure that the kamuy will make regular visits to the human world.

So, while there are many, many kamuy, some kamuy have higher status than others. The Owl Kamuy takes the form of the Blakiston's Fish Owl, probably the largest species of owl in the world. It is the guardian of the human village and has very high status. That's why I kept the word "god" in the title of The Owl God's Song, even though I omitted it in the other titles as being irrelevant and potentially confusing.

eliot's cats

2011-08-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just as I predicted in my last post, I became hopelessly caught in the grip of T.S.Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, and was unable to paint anything but cats for several days. After making a bunch of more-or-less traditional etegami, I redid some of them as etegami collages. I can't say I'm completely satisfied with any of them, but at least it took the edge off this obsession, and now I can go on to other things. (sigh of relief)

illustration friday (obsession)

2011-08-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have both rational and irrational fears of many kinds of bugs. But a little over a year ago, I forced myself to paint a millipede etegami to submit to a mailart call on the theme of "Phobias." Ever since then, I've become obsessed with drawing bugs-- even the ones that disgust and scare me the most. Cockroaches, mosquitoes, and centipedes, for example. (I'm still not brave enough to draw spiders.) As I paint them, I discover beauty in the colors and patterns of their construction, and that helps me overcome a bit of my phobia. Just a little bit.

The words are a quote from a poem called The Old Gumbie Cat by T.S.Eliot, from the book titled: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, on which, I'm told, the Broadway musical Cats is based. I've been enjoying the book immensely, and I see a lot of cat etegami in my future...

etegami crosses borders (australia)

2011-07-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since I updated the Etegami Crosses Borders series, but I will try to correct that with this post. The motivation behind the series is to explore how etegami can (and in my opinion, should) reflect the land and culture in which it is produced. Check out my earlier posts in this series and read about etegami artists in France and Israel.

Today I want to draw your attention to the art of Carole Marshall in Australia. You may have noticed her work posted on my mailart gallery. Carole began painting etegami soon after discovering my etegami blog. She quickly grasped the basic concepts, and it wasn't long before she had developed her own unique style and approach to etegami. I think her choices of subjects, accompanying words, and even the colors she uses, effectively reflect the land she lives in. Lately she's been painting uniquely Australian animals. I encourage you to visit Carole's entertaining blog at Origa-me Origa-me and see more of her etegami.

sketchbook project 2012 (second tale)

2011-07-30T18:33:00.001-07:00

The Fox's Song is one of my favorite Ainu yukar, because it doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. And yet it is a morality tale like all the others. I'm not real happy with the shadows in the scanned image. The further I get into the sketchbook, the more the pages get ruffled or warped, or whatever you call it. (p.s. My avatar, the ladybug, and its flippant comments are not in the original yukar)

sketchbook project 2012 (first tale)

2011-07-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

I wrote about what I had in mind to do for the Sketchbook Project 2012 in an earlier post, but I find that as my sketchbook takes shape, I've had to make minor adjustments to my original concept. It is, however, taking shape, and that's the important thing. I am posting the first of the four yukar tales ("the river otter's song") that make up my new project. I hope it grabs your interest enough that you will come back to see more. :p

drift ice tour map

2011-07-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

When the water of Siberia's great Amur River flows into the Sea of Okhotsk, it freezes into chunks of ice. These chunks bump into each other and combine into ever-larger chunks which drift southward to the coast of Hokkaido, Japan from mid-January to March. Those who are willing to brave Hokkaido's frigid winter temperatures can experience this silvery-blue wonderland of ice, and the rich and varied ecosystem that accompanies it.

I submitted this to They Draw and Travel, like I did the other three maps. I hope they're not getting sick of me. :p

And since this phenomenon occurs year after year, I've decided to let this count as my Illustration Friday submission for the topic "perennial."

another hokkaido map

2011-07-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Daisetsuzan (also called Taisetsuzan) National Park is located in the mountainous center of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō. At 2267.64 square kilometers, Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan. The Japanese name means "great snowy mountains," and it is often called "the roof of Hokkaido." But the name the indigenous Ainu gave these mountains is "the playground of the gods." You can see it and lots of other maps at the They Draw and Travel website. If you missed my previous map post, click here. I just looooove Hokkaido. : )

light conversation

2011-07-14T20:10:00.001-07:00

I just had to paint this today, after watching a documentary this morning about lightning bugs and how they communicate with each other. :p

illustration friday (stay)

2011-07-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Here are two illustrated maps I made to submit to They Draw & Travel. I thought they would be appropriate for this week's IF topic, because beautiful Hokkaido is where I hope to stay for the rest of my life. And if you ever come to visit, you probably won't want to leave either.

Btw, those flowery marks on the Hokkaido map I made by stamping inked cross-sections of okra.

don't give up your dreams

2011-07-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

This is the song that inspired the orange wedges etegami collage in my last post. The one where the Japanese words say Shine as Only You Can Shine. For you, @plum.

pieces of sunshine

2011-07-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy painting citrus fruit this week that I didn't have time to develop an idea for Illustration Friday (this week's theme=remedy). However, I noticed that my daughter, who promptly caught a cold upon arriving in relatively cool & dry Hokkaido from hot & humid Nagoya, has been chomping on some kind of Vitamin C-rich nutritional supplement. So let my etegami oranges count for the Vitamin C that my daughter is absolutely convinced is a "remedy for the common cold."

The writing that accompanies the sliced blood orange etegami above says "sawayaka," the Japanese word for refreshing or invigorating. It's a word that is often used to describe a cool breeze that revives you on a hot day, or how a slightly tart, refreshing drink tastes when you’re terribly thirsty.

The writing on the etegami collage below that one is a quote from one of my favorite songs of encouragement by singer/songwriter Takako Okamura. The song itself is titled “Don’t Give Up Your Dreams,” and the quote (which comes in the middle of the song) translates roughly to Shine As Only You Can Shine. The orange wedges were painted on a washi card, then cut out and glued to the cover of an antique book of Japanese singing poems (shigin) printed with gold birds in flight.

fun with starfish

2011-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

The beach no longer plays a part in my summers, but it certainly did when I was a child, and that mental connection seems to be permanent. Starfish, jellyfish, and shellfish keep popping up in my latest artwork.

This week, the fascinating shapes, colors, and "postures" of starfish inspired some humorous etegami.

illustration friday (midsummer night)

2011-06-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Midsummer Night Itch
by N. M. Bodecker

Mosquito is out,
it’s the end of the day;
she’s humming and hunting
her evening away.
Who knows why such hunger
arrives on such wings
at sundown? I guess
it’s the nature of things.

(this poem is in the public domain)

happy crab (on the sand, in the sun)

2011-06-25T01:32:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the humorous Ogden Nash poem PRETTY HALCYON DAYS.

road

2011-06-23T16:35:00.001-07:00

wind

2011-06-22T23:24:00.001-07:00

cliff

2011-06-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are two from my new series of experimental etegami. The writing (the single Japanese character at the right side of the image) means "cliff," and I used the shape of it to represent exactly what it means. In one, a paraglider launches from the cliff. In the other, a ladybug does the same. Some of you know that I use a ladybug as my avatar, so if you suspect this leaping ladybug represents me, you'd probably be right.

stained summits

2011-06-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

My first idea for this week's Illustration Friday (topic= "swept") resulted in this etegami. But then I got to wondering if it was too grim. Besides, it needs a lot of explaining, and it really fits better in my "humanizing the quake" series.

It was inspired by the last lines of the Robert Frost poem below (published in 1928, in a collection called West-Running Brook). The poem may or may not have been written in response to the great Misssippi River flood of 1927, which killed and displaced thousands of people. Apparently some of the politics that followed the disaster were quite ugly. Reading about it naturally made me think of the current bickering and power struggles within our Japanese government-- at such a time as this, when unity is so desperately needed for rebuilding the country.

The 3.11 tsunami left stains on the walls of the few buildings it did not destroy or carry away. But I feel that it also left stains on the "summits" of government politics. These stains are not pretty. I don't claim to understand much about Frost's poem, but I was deeply affected by his images of blood, flood waters, and stains.

The Flood

Blood has been harder to dam back than water.

Just when we think we have it impounded safe

Behind new barrier walls (and let it chafe!),

It breaks away in some new kind of slaughter.

We choose to say it is let loose by the devil;

But power of blood itself releases blood.

It goes by might of being such a flood

Held high at so unnatural a level.

It will have outlet, brave and not so brave.

weapons of war and implements of peace

Are but the points at which it finds release.

And now it is once more the tidal wave

That when it has swept by leaves summits stained.

Oh, blood will out. It cannot be contained.

poem by Robert Frost

If you haven't seen the one I finally posted for Illustration Friday, it's here. At least Tolkien fans will love it. :p

illustration friday (swept)

2011-06-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." ~J.R.R. Tolkien, "Three Is Company," The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954

If you'd like to see the first etegami that I painted in response to this week's topic "swept," click here. Robert Frost fans might appreciate it best. : )

dewdrops (misuzu kaneko series #3)

2011-06-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

Dewdrops

I will keep it to myself

that the flowers were shedding tears

in a corner of the garden

this morning.

If the news were to spread,

and the bees were to hear of it,

they would feel so guilty,

they might return the honey.

poem by Misuzu Kaneko

my translation

sweet osmanthus (misuzu kaneko series #2)

2011-06-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sweet Osmanthus

The sweet fragrance of osmanthus

fills the garden.

The breezes hesitate

at the gate,

debating whether or not to enter.

poem by Misuzu Kaneko

my translation

the big haul (misuzu kaneko series #1)

2011-06-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

I recently became a fan of poet and songwriter Misuzu Kaneko. I had long been aware of her poems for children, but until recently I had never wondered about the poet herself. Now that I know more about her, I am hit harder and more deeply by her works than I was before.

Like the butterfly in the previous post, this was painted on a double-sized washi card that I've been experimenting with lately. It doesn't have the same bleed factor as my usual brand, but I'm trying to learn how to use it to its full potential.

I've tried to translate the short poem that inspired today's etegami, but I haven't been able to capture the rhythm of the Japanese words, or convey the unsentimental pathos of the original. I will keep working on it. But the meaning goes something like this:

The Big Haul

Beneath a glowing sunrise,

the fishing boats return,

loaded with Ooba Sardines.

On shore, villagers celebrate like it's a festival.

In the sea, sardines hold a funeral

for their tens of thousands of mates.

illustration friday (shadows)

2011-06-05T15:51:00.003-07:00

I was trying to show a butterfly (a Monarch butterfly, actually) just coming out of its chrysalis, its wings still wrinkled and wet. But what does this have to do with our topic? Well, the Japanese words say Okage-sama-de, which is a common response we make when someone asks after our health or expresses gladness for our good fortune. We often use the term simply as a polite, all-purpose, "Thank You."

Kage means shadow or shade. And what the whole phrase literally means is "I owe it to your honorable shadow (or the shadow of God or various un-specified people) that things are well with me." I like this phrase a lot, and I think about its original meaning every time I use it. Because I mean it. The good things in my life, from start to finish-- they are all okage-sama-de.

the sketchbook project 2012

2011-06-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember that I participated in The Sketchbook Project last year, and that I filled my sketchbook with etegami illustrating the roughly 50 proverbs and sayings that resulted in my Japanese Proverbs series.

The Sketchbook Project was so much fun and satisfying to participate in, that I decided to try it again this year. There are various rules you have to follow, and one of these is that everyone has to submit their artwork in the same type of sketchbook-- a small-ish, blank notebook that gets sent out to all registrants by the Sketchbook Project headquarters.

This year I will be filling the sketchbook with my illustrated translations of Ainu folk tales. The Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan, and if you've ever checked out my Project Uepeker blog, you know that I'm part of a team that has been working for over a decade to make Ainu oral literature accessible to English readers.

The etegami posted here is one of my illustrations for a folk tale called A Song Sung by the Otter God. I still have to decide what words to put on it. Probably Ainu words taken from the story. The English translation of the story will fill up all the space in the notebook that the illustrations don't fill up.

I plan to post more samples from my sketchbook as it takes shape. I hope it will be fun for you to follow along.

Click the Sketchbook Project banner in the sidebar to learn more about it. Maybe you'll decide you want to participate too. : )

illustration friday (soaked)

2011-05-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

A rubber-soled, cheap canvas shoe that anyone living in Japan immediately recognizes as the type children use as indoor footwear while at school. The red-rubber tip indicates that its missing owner was a girl. The style and size tell us it was probably worn by a very young child, attending kindergarten or early elementary school. The child most likely came from a rural area where old basics like this are more readily available than trendier styles printed with popular anime characters.

The shoe is soaked with sea water. It was the only thing the tsunami left behind when it took the child. The words translate roughly to: What the tsunami left behind.

cantaloupe words

2011-05-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

The latest in my slowly-growing series illustrating this thought-provoking (anonymous) quote.

blank washi postcards now in my etsy shop

2011-05-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked me how to order etegami materials online, and I've written several posts sharing what information I could dig up on the subject. Some of you have found what you were looking for, some have improvised and come up with great solutions, and many others have continued to be frustrated by the difficulty of selecting and ordering the right kind of paper.

So, I finally broke down and decided to start offering blank washi postcards on my Etsy shop. Today I posted two different brands of Hongasenshi, the cardstock that I personally recommend for Etegami. I don't know the language that Western artists use to describe paper, so all I can say is that I like the way these two brands of paper interact with ink and paint.

I'm hoping that you can use the writing brushes and paints that you already have, or that you can find a supplier for them with less difficulty than it has been to find the right kind of paper.

Go here to learn more about the washi cards I am offering on my shop. If you could order directly from the paper suppliers, it would end up being much cheaper for you, since my prices reflect the postage, Japanese sales tax, and handling fees that I have to pay when I order the supplies. But at least this will be an easier way for you to get your washi cards. : )

illustration friday (safari)

2011-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

This image was inspired by a travel show about Tahiti that I just happened to notice on TV this morning. What perfect timing! Oh, by the way, there's someone inside that suit & helmet-- I forget what the suit is called. Have you ever experienced an aqua safari?

happy as clams

2011-05-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I had intended to paint a different kind of shellfish for an Ainu folktale that I'm illustrating, but I got sidetracked by some happy childhood memories and started painting clams. The words are a quote from the "Old Settler's Song (Acres of Clams)," a Northwest United States folk song written by Francis D. Henry around 1874.

illustration friday (beginner)

2011-05-09T17:58:00.001-07:00

tdac cookbook ready for pre-order!

2011-05-09T15:37:00.001-07:00

You know the They Draw & Cook website that I rave so much about? Last year my illustrated recipe for Grilled Pacific Saury was chosen to be among the 107 illustrated recipes to be published in their upcoming cookbook. That's the book shown in the video above. See if you can catch a glimpse of my illustrated recipe done in the etegami style as they flip through the book.

But it isn't just because my work was included that I'm so excited about this book. As a collection of art it is WONderfully fun--- and as a collection of recipes, you'll absolutely swoon if you enjoy cooking (or eating) as much as I do. The cookbook is now ready for pre-order on Amazon.com.

humanizing the quake (children's day)

2011-05-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Like February 3 (bean-throwing festival) and March 3 (doll's day festival), May 5 is one of the "seasonal divisions" that we celebrate during the year in Japan. We call this day Kodomo-no-Hi (Children's Day), the day on which we express our hope that our children will grow up physically strong and courageous against adversity. One of our customs is to run huge carp-shaped windsocks called koi-nobori up a flagpole set up outside specifically for that purpose.

When I was little, the festival was for boys, and people hung as many koi-nobori as there were boys in the household. Nowadays everyone in the family gets represented. Sometimes villages will stretch a rope across a stream or between two buildings and hang enough koi-nobori to represent the whole community. It's an amazing sight when the wind blows, making the koi-nobori appear as though they are swimming vigorously against an imaginary river current and leaping over imaginary rapids.

Today, thanks to the assistance of volunteers from all over the country, special Children's Day programs were held for the children in evacuation centers all over the Tohoku region. I don't know if there has ever been a Children's Day that meant as much to me as it did today. I trust that these kids will successfully maneuver the trials that they face, and that they will grow up to be strong and courageous adults.

The Japanese words on the etegami at the top say "we are all connected."